Chasing Ice

I have always tended away from feature length documentaries. Perhaps a foolish sentiment, but I've just always thought it easier and more rewarding to be immersed in fiction. Never have I been proven so wrong than with 'Chasing Ice'. As one of the films honoured with a place at this year's Sundance (and indeed picking up one of the prestigious cinematography awards from the festival), that should perhaps have been a little more evident up front.

Put simply (possibly overly so), 'Chasing Ice' is the big screen account of a nature photographer's mission to obtain and showcase undeniable evidence of the impacts of global climate change through the ever-evolving ice landscapes. The resulting film is a supremely beautiful example of documentary film-making at it's best. Aside from evoking emotions of utter jealousy from me (any other combination of two of my major passions without me being involved is likely to do the same thing), 'Chasing Ice' also manages to be genuinely touching; a seemingly illogical thing for what is ostensibly a photography documentary. And yet there is just something about James Balog, the photographer in question, that just makes you desperate to come along for the ride.

The point that James Balog realised he could get the field assistant to do all the really dangerous bits... (Yes, that tiny speck in the distance is a person)

To be fair, both he and the film-makers were particularly blessed with the subject matters they had in hand. The breathtaking scenery of the Earth's glaciers make it very difficult not to be able to take an truly stunning shot, though the film does rather quickly show the lengths that James will go to, and his mission to ever push one step further. In fact, for the film-makers, it is James himself, his team and his enormous passion that are nothing short of a gift. It was in fact James that founded the Extreme Ice Survey (EIS), the photograph-based glacier study which 'Chasing Ice' is in fact about. That in itself is nothing short of impressive; EIS is one of the most thorough scientific glacial measurement programmes on the Earth, and now has as many as 43 time-lapse cameras permanently stationed watching glaciers all over the world, and recording data every half an hour during daylight. What started as one man's campaign to be able to demonstrate the dramatic effects of global climate change, has now become one of the most important scientific records of glacial activity ever documented.

Difficult not to be completely in awe.

Though it's only inevitable that some will dismiss this as yet another piece of climate propaganda, it's perhaps more upsetting that more people won't get to see this. Though the director aspires for 'Chasing Ice' to appear as part of the curriculum in American schools, I worry that too many people will just be put off by the idea of another film about climate change (let's face it, not even having Leonardo DiCaprio in it helped 'The 11th Hour'). In this case though, even aside from the political, social and environmental lessons, 'Chasing Ice' is actually a fabulous piece of work; beautifully shot, spectacular scenery, and some truly touching and even poignant moments. Sadly though, those are not going to be enough on their own to convince the vast majority to see the film, regardless of their environmental viewpoint.